Colerain quarterback Dominick Goodman runs the ball in for a touchdown against Elder during the 2004 championship season.
2004.08.28 FOOTBALL SPORTS : Colerain's quarterback Dominick Goodman runs the ball in for a touchdown against Elder during their Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown game Saturday August 28, 2004 at The University of Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium. The Enquirer/JEFF SWINGER(Photo: Enquirer File Photo)Buy Photo

COLERAIN TWP. - He seemed a little lost walking across familiar ground. On Friday, Sept. 7, Dominick Goodman cut across the 50-yard line at Colerain High School's stadium, just as he had hundreds of times before in uniform.

This time was different, though, as he headed to the opposing sideline glancing across at the bleachers where Cardinal fans once cheered for him. Goodman, now 31, was the Colerain quarterback for their lone Ohio state championship in 2004.

Now, he's coaching for the Princeton Vikings. The Vikings have a talented quarterback this season in Hosea Hairston. Another talented prep quarterback who played at Princeton, Mike Daniels, hired Goodman to help tutor the young men now playing at Pat Mancuso Field. Daniels and Goodman were teammates at the University of Cincinnati, where both became receivers.

"Coach Daniels is a good friend of mine," Goodman said. "He mentored me at UC. He gave me an opportunity to come over here and help with receivers. It feels kind of weird being over on this side, especially at my old school."

Goodman once thought he was a college basketball player and committed to Findlay to hoop. Then, he flourished with Coach Kerry Coombs in 2004, running for 2,005 yards with 29 touchdowns and throwing for six more scores. Both Coombs and Goodman would wind up with UC. The 2004 Ohio Division I title win made both legends.

In his final game against Canton McKinley, the Cardinals won 50-10 with Goodman running for 259 yards and four touchdowns. Then an assistant under Coombs, current Cards coach Tom Bolden gleams talking about Goodman's night.

"He had pulled his groin in the first half and already had quite a few yards," Bolden said. "He went in (at halftime) and did a little bit of treatment on it. How he came out and set the single-season record for rushing at the time is absolutely phenomenal. He was the epitome of 'Give me the ball!' I'll never forget it."

LIke Goodman, Mike Daniels went from running and throwing in high school to catching at UC. When the young Cardinal visited campus, the slightly older Viking mentored him on how to become a Bearcat. The matchup worked well with Goodman going on to catch 204 passes in his career for 22 touchdowns, including 84 passes in the 2008 season when then-coach Brian Kelly led the Bearcats to the Orange Bowl.

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2008.10.30 UCFOOTBALL SPORTS : The University of Cincinnati's Dominick Goodman makes a first quarter reception for a first down against the University of South Florida's Kion Wilson at Nippert Stadium Thursday October 30, 2008. The Enquirer/Jeff Swinger(Photo: Enquirer File Photo)

"He's a great addition to what we're doing," Daniels said of having Goodman in Princeton red. "We see things the same way, we were trained the same way by (former UC coach Mark) Dantonio and Kelly in terms of structure of offense and work value. It was a no-brainer for me. It just happened that he's a Colerain Card."

After UC, Goodman played for the Kings Comets locally, then the Cincinnati Commandos of the Continental Indoor Football League, before finally coming into his own with the Cleveland Gladiators of the Arena Football League, where he became the team's all-time receptions leader. He also spent time in Germany with the Dresden Monarchs and last played with the Sioux Falls Storm last year.

He has coached at Colerain (volunteer assistant), Northwest and now at Princeton, but some fire still burns to compete.

"I retired and settled down and wanted to take a couple years off to get my body back healed up and get back in the swing of things," Goodman said. "I got a couple calls and offers to play this spring. I'm on the fence, but I'm kind of leaning toward coming back and playing. I feel like I've still got it."

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Former Colerain quarterback Dominick Goodman, who know coaches for Princeton, smiles with former Anderson quarterback Daniel Rod who coaches for Colerain.(Photo: The Enquirer/Scott Springer)

Though he believes he can still catch and find the end zone, the legendary No. 16 also has long-term plans of finishing his college degree up to get into coaching full-time. Also on the Vikings staff is another former Colerain quarterback in Alfred "LA" Ramsby, who played at Georgia Southern.

"He (Daniels) has a good coaching staff and a good thing going over here," Goodman said. "We're just working on changing the culture and bringing Princeton back. We've got some good talent over here."

If anything, the Vikings have three of the more decorated scout team quarterbacks in the city.